Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in children in Guyana

ABSTRACT

The pattern of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease observed in children at the Georgetown Hospital, Guyana, over the past 10 years has been analyzed. Ninety patients up to age 13 years were diagnosed as having rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease. There was equal sex distribution, and the greatest number of cases occurred in the age group 6 - 10 years. There was no racial difference of the disease in the two major ethnic groups (East Indians and Negroes). Of the 90 cases, 54, 60 percent gave a history of rheumatic fever. Erythema marginatum and subcutaneous nodules were not seen. Four patients presented with chorea one of whom subsequently developed mitral stenosis. Seventy-five patients now have established valve lesions, the commonest being mitral incompetence. There were only 6 cases with pure mitral stenosis. The majority of the patients with established valvular heart disease runs a comparatively benign course in Guyana (AU)